Ok, i just got my ep-630's as well.
I have to agree with the previous poster in the area of sibilance.
The ep-630's do have noticeably less sibilance than the cx300s. NO sibilance, or atleast very much reduced from the cx300s...thank god!
I don't agree with the transparency and soundstage difference...I think the cx300s pronounced bass and treble may create that illusion(atleast to me). I think the creatives are actually more transparent due to their more balanced sound...more on that later though.
Where I disagree greatly is in the bass.
The cx300s bass goes slightly deeper...but to me it's noticeably LOUDER and thus seemingly boomy compared to the ep630. I'm surprised that this wasnt immediately noticed as it was apparent the very first few seconds I listened to them. Bass in the ep630 seems MUCH more balanced to me, not as pronounced. The cx300s seem have a large bass hump in the 40-100hz range, causing everything to sound veiled and bassy....FINALLY, the creatives give me a balanced sound and I don't need to eq them like I do with the cx300s. Sennheiser, in my opinion, pulled a sony and raised the bass and treble in certain frequencies to make them "sound better"
The cx300s are louder, more sensitive, this is easily noticeable...or is it? perhaps I'm just noticing the increase in the bass and treble as being more sensitive.
Frankly, I think Sennheiser is running a scam here at a list of anything more than 30. And I can't even believe that they would dare msrp these at 80!! The creatives are a bargain and I actually prefer the creatives due to their lack of sibilance, the cx300s sibilance rears its ugly head quite often for me and ruins much of the listening experience.
For those on the fence, I would say go with the ep630, the difference between them and the cx300 sound wise probably wouldn't even be determinable in a blind/casual listening test. But i have to stress again, right out of the box, the creatives are MORE BALANCED...noticeably better for me.
This is just after 15 minutes of listening, but its not hard to conclude that they sound very similar...same basic sound characteristic.
THIS IS MY CONCLUSION SUMMED UP...in my opinion, take the creatives basic sound characteristic, add more bass and more treble to yield an unbalanced sound and you have the cx300s. I'll stand firmly behind this evaluation and I think many of you with both will come to the same, unless my cx300s were defective somehow, which i highly doubt.
I've demoed a lot of very expensive speakers and I hate bass humps and pronounced treble...which is why I've always hated the sony fontopias...the creatives have solved that problem for me and the cx300s take the sony approach to my ears.
About 30+ mins of listening now and I stand by everything I've said....the creatives are an absolute bargain at 26 bucks, very balanced sound I;m extremely happy with them, they soundly beat the cx300s to me, no longer bassy, sibilant sound!
